The technology and design skills already exist. A greener-buildings push will create greater economic activity and more new jobs than business as usual. However, don’t expect support from development groups – they are currently seeking to delay (hoping into the never-never) new plans for liveable suburbs under the guise of housing supply and economic recovery from the COVID lockdowns. Sydney and its millions of citizens can’t afford short-term thinking.

The second critical path is to continue the push for more green spaces and achieving the Greater Sydney target of a 40 per cent tree canopy.

The state government, Greater Sydney Commission and the previous minister for public spaces had this as a clear goal. It must allow the benefits of trees (nature’s airconditioner) and local parks, are spread equally across the urban landscape. Some development groups have opposed trees – and deep soil assets to sustain them – on new lots, instead preferring greenfield development, with maximum tree clearance and minimum replanting. However, a good spread of tree canopy can reduce temperatures by up to 10 degrees and prevent a heat bomb coming off roads and paths in the evening.

An important aspect is to retain the remnants of native bushland and ensure linking corridors. The imminent Cumberland Plain Conservation Plan will be an essential instrument as Sydney spreads westwards. Sydney’s koalas and the many threatened species that live in the Macarthur and Wollondilly region deserve to survive and thrive along and between the Georges and Nepean Rivers.

Loading

Invariably, when new environmental standards are proposed, the housing lobby produces claims of increased costs. They are exaggerations not borne out by reality, particularly when a full financial assessment is made.

Economic development must be multi-dimensional – otherwise the mistakes of the past will extrapolate the impacts of global warming on millions of people. The government’s impressive 2030 climate targets demand foresight and integration into the week-by-week development decisions that will govern how our cities and towns evolve.

Don’t go backwards Premier Perrottet and Minister Roberts!